ONC Releases Guide to Electronic Health Record Contracting

Selecting and negotiating the acquisition of an electronic health record system (EHR) is a challenging but important undertaking for any health care provider organization. The guide issued by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is intended to help the health care provider understand how to manage risks via an EHR contract in order to maximize the value of a health IT investment, whether acquiring the first EHR or upgrading or replacing existing technology. It offers strategies and recommendations for negotiating best practice EHR contract terms and illustrates how legal issues might be addressed in a contract by providing example contract language.

The guide, entitled EHR Contracts Untangled, can be found at https://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/EHR_Contracts_Untangled.pdf